"Well, we kept on going and going, but the darn old oasis seemed as far away as ever. Suddenly, I thought I was going queer in my head, because it slowly vanished like mist. I rubbed my eyes and called on Ken to verify the fact. Then you should have heard the men swear! Phew!"
Both boys laughed as they recalled the irritation of the men who found they had been riding for a mirage—And lunch farther off than ever.
"However, we saw a gigantic bowlder of lava and sand rear its head from the desert a short distance off, so we decided to make for that and see if there was a crevice in its side where we might find shelter from the baking sun.
"We left the horses hobbled while we scrambled up its sides to look for any projection that would cast a shadow for us.
"The men separated when we started to climb, but we all met at the top without having found any shade. The wind that blew across the desert, was comparatively cool, however, so we sat on the uncomfortable spikes of lava and planned where we might have something to eat.
"Ken turned to speak to me, and a great mass of shale broke away from his feet and rolled down the steep sides of the crag. But he managed to catch himself from slipping. Then we began breaking off fragments of shale and tried to see who could throw it the farthest out on the desert. We laid wagers, and one of the party said he would go down, after a bit, and mark the ones that were prize-winners. That made us laugh as no one would ever be able to find any individual chunk of shale out on that wild place.
"The breeze that had been blowing rather too strong, now became stronger, and then Prang, who was in charge of us, that day, shaded his eyes with a hand and stared off at the horizon. We all gazed in the same direction, but we were not experienced enough to know what it was he saw.
"'My God, boys! slide down this crag as fast as you can—that's a storm blowing across the sands. It will hit us in a few moments. Grab the horses or they'll bolt and we'll all be lost on the desert!'"
"Gee! didn't we get down those awful sides. Ken slid more than half-way down, then he lost his grasp on the side. His back and arms are all scraped now, from the way he rolled the rest of the way."
The girls sympathized with Ken, but he laughed away the thought that he had been too tender to stand such a test.